


Christmas Knits

by BarPurple



Series: Spin Me a Yarn [4]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Knitting, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-06-04 15:33:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6664315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas is coming and some of the men of Storybrooke are on a mission.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas Knits

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theja67](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theja67/gifts).



“In. Round. Out. Off. In. Round. Out. Off.”

Granny frowned and peered at Leroy of the top of her spectacles. For the dwarf to be muttering under his breath wasn’t that out of the ordinary, but there was something a little familiar about the mantra he was repeating this morning. Leroy felt her gaze and shifted on his seat then jerked his head at his coffee cup.

“That cup ain’t going to refill itself, sister.” 

“It’d happen quicker with a please.”

They fell easily into their normal morning bickering and the strangeness of Leroy’s mutterings was forgotten as more customers arrived for breakfast.

 

“Gold’s got an idea to make it easier for you. Why is that so hard to accept?”

Snow heard annoyance in her husband’s voice. She turned off the faucet and slowly dried her hands on the towel hanging from the rail by the bathroom sink. It was Killian’s voice she heard next; “Because nothing from the bloody Crocodile is easy or free.”

She noted that there was less bite in the pirate’s words these days when he spoke of Rumplestiltskin. Their uneasy alliance was heading toward friendship, not that either man would openly admit that. There was a huff from Charming and Snow could picture him running his hand across his face.

“Gold’s doing this because Henry asked him to. You know Henry always gets a free pass with his Grandfather.”

Snow had no reason to linger now and her curiosity was getting the better of her. She bustled out of the bathroom with a cheery smile, not even pretending that she hadn’t overheard the tail end of their conversation.

“Good morning.”

Killian turned to her with a small bow, “Good morning, your highness.”

The pirate did a better job of hiding his guilty look than her husband did, Snow’s eyes narrowed slightly, they were up to something. She busied herself with the kettle and asked casually over her shoulder; “What’s Henry got a free pass from Gold for this time?”

She turned from the stove in time to catch Killian scratching at his ear with his hook. It was a sure sign of embarrassment, or dishonesty, she just had to work out which.

“The Jolly is in need of a small repair. I’ve not been able to find the necessary parts, but it appears young Henry has appealed to his Grandfather on my behalf.”

Embarrassment then; it must be irking Killian something rotten to receive help from Gold to repair his beloved ship. Snow nodded and gave him a shrug; “If Henry’s gone to the trouble to ask Gold you should accept his help.”

Killian nodded and the conversation turned to other things.

 

“Guess who?”

Archie tensed as Ruby slipped her hands over his eyes, but instantly relaxed at the sound of her voice.

“Hello Ruby.”

She dropped her hands from his eyes and accepted the kiss he dropped on her check as he turned to face her. There was a slight pout on her lips.

“You didn’t even try to guess.”

“I didn’t have to. No stranger would do that to me and every woman in town knows I am thoroughly yours so wouldn’t dare.”

That made Ruby laugh, she threaded her arm through his and glanced at the magazines in his hands. On elegant eyebrow arched as she took in the titles.

“Knitting magazines?”

Archie swallowed and gave a slight shrug, “Just updating the reading material in the waiting room. Crafting is popular, thought it might relax people a little more.”

Ruby bopped him on the nose with her finger.

“Ever thoughtful cricket.”

 

In the years since the curse broke December saw a steady flow of tourists into Storybrooke. The locals were practised at concealing the true nature of the town now and it had been a fair while since Regina or Gold had needed to whip up a memory potion to prevent any awkward questions about dragons or such. It had become usual for locals to use the back door of Gold’s shop during this time, rather than wade through crowds of antique hunters. Henry happily manned the front counter leaving his Grandfather to deal with whatever crisis had brought a local to the back room.

Much to Rumple’s delight Henry had a natural flair for salesmanship and usually struck a good deal with customers, (apart from that one time, but Henry tried not to dwell on the chaos his sale of that teapot had caused). He was attentive to his task, but over the last few days before Christmas he’d noticed that Killian, Leroy and Archie were regular visitors to the shop. After whatever business they had with Grandfather they would stop and chat for a few moments, or just wave a fast hello and goodbye if the shop was rammed, but they’d never tell him what they had been doing in the back room. The first day Henry had worried that there was some new evil looming over the town, but when neither his Moms or Grandma mentioned anything another suspicion began to form. This idea made him smile and hold his tongue.

Henry’s suspicion was proved correct on Christmas Day when everyone gathered at Grannys for the evening celebration. Mom was wearing a new woollen hat; Astrid sported a brightly striped, if slightly lumpy scarf and Ruby was in a scarlet sweater patterned with green Christmas trees and yellow wolves. 

“How did Killian knit that? You need two hands to knit.”

Astrid blushed a little at the inelegant way she’d drawn attention to Killian’s missing hand, but Emma smiled brightly and replied;

“Gold found him a knitting loom, so he didn’t need to use needles. What I can’t get over is the work Archie’s put in on that sweater.”

Ruby preened under the attention of her two friends.

“I’ve told you he’s a marvel with his hands.”

She dropped them a saucy wink and chuckled as they both rolled their eyes at her. In the far booth Belle kissed Rumple’s cheek.

“What was that for?”

“I don’t need a reason to kiss you, but that was for being so patient with Killian and Leroy.”

Rumple twirled his hand to dismiss her praise, but his smile was proud.

“They only came to me because they couldn’t learn to knit from Charming as easily as Doctor Hopper did. Besides the dwarf owes me a favour now.”

Belle shook her head; “But Killian doesn’t?”

Rumple cleared his throat and fiddled with his wine glass, “Thought I’d let it go after the pink Jolly Roger episode.”

Belle leant into kiss him again, certain things about her husband would never change, but some had and she loved him all the more for the effort he put into making people happy these days, even if he did prefer to hide most of it behind his thinning mask of monster.

**Author's Note:**

> Not quite according to the prompt and I know it's April, but the idea worked well for Christmas, so here we are.


End file.
